Renaud breaks down this week’s one-two punch in the U.S.–China trade saga: Beijing’s new export controls on key rare-earth minerals (notably neodymium for high-strength magnets) and the White House’s counter-threat of a 100% tariff on made-in-China imports from November 1.

He unpacks the “small yard, high fence” strategy, how China is now mirroring U.S. tools (FDPR-style controls, personnel restrictions, licensing), and what this means for your supply chain in the next few weeks.

00:00:26 The headline: China’s new export controls on rare-earth minerals (incl. neodymium) 

00:01:45 U.S. response: proposed 100% tariff on made-in-China goods from Nov 1 (leverage &

deadline) 

00:02:46 China says it will reciprocate; deadlock + market jitters 

00:03:07 Mixed signals on X; why near-term headlines may whipsaw 

00:04:59 WSJ angle: “learn the barbarians’ tools” — China’s smarter countermeasures 

00:05:11 “Small yard, high fence”: narrowing the choke points (semis, EVs, batteries) 

00:07:05 Example #1: U.S. FDPR vs. China’s mineral-origin export controls (mirroring) 

00:07:48 Example #2: Restricting people — U.S. persons in CN semis vs. CN nationals in rare-earth chain 

00:08:15 Example #3: Licensing regimes for dual-use tech — copy-and-invert 

00:09:16 Takeaways for importers: don’t overreact, prep playbooks before Nov 1

Design, industrialization, inspections, audits, CM, and 3PL across Asia → Sofeast Group: https://www.sofeast.com/

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